Ganja critic and self-styled chronnoisseur, Dragonfly travels the world in search of the best cannabis and evaluates strains ranging from the popular and plentiful to the rare and exotic. She samples each strain in joints, vaporizers, glass bongs, and bubblers (whenever available), taking careful notes of the smell, taste, and nuanced effects of each one, all in the name of getting you vicariously and royally baked. Get High with Dragonfly in West Coast Cannabis, SKUNK, and right here.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

This rare and exotic high sativa strain caught the attention of Northern California chronnoisseurs when it was the uncontested favorite and unanimous winner of the 2009 Earthdance Cannabis Cup, standing out among other quality strains such as DJ Short’s new Vanilla Luna strain. Earthdance is a music festival that takes place in Humboldt County at the end of every summer, and Harborside Health Center sponsored the friendly competition. Of the dozen or so entries, Dr. Walker’s Daze left an impression from the dry hit alone. Participants who had been chatting suddenly interrupted their conversations to comment on the pungent, unique, spicy taste before the joint had even been blazed. And when we blazed, we were dazed and amazed.

Dr. Walker’s Daze is a three-way cross created by Moonshine Man. Its genetics consist first of a cross between Albert Walker (a highly-coveted Pacific Northwest strain) and Medicine Man, which created the Dr. Walker strain. Then Dr. Walker was crossed with Daze, a 100-day phenotype of Soma Seed’s 99 Amnesia Haze (Amnesia Haze/Amnesia Haze/Neville’s Haze). Only a few seeds were ever produced from this sexy, sativa-dominant threesome, and somewhere around the end of 2006, they went on auction to the highest bidder. The final pack of seeds was bought for $800 on a seed-auction website.

Dr. Walker’s Daze was destined to remain in obscurity, an elite strain reserved only for the seasoned chronnoisseur, until one retiring pot enthusiast passed his collection on to a talented and well-respected grower. This grower undertook the painstaking process of growing the plant from seed, and nurtured it with the level of care usually reserved for a mother and her newborn child. 12 weeks later, Dr. Walker’s Daze was resurrected, just in time for the Earthdance Cannabis Cup.

DW Daze is a natural anti-depressant and an instant mood enhancer. Whatever your initial frame of mind, puff, puff, pass and you’ll be giddy with giggles, stuck with a case of the warm fuzzies, basking in the sunshine of euphoria. This uplifting sativa strain turns rainy days into rainbows, and has a distinctly energetic effect. You’ll take on even the most mundane activity with happy alertness. And you’ll have the energy and motivation to actually do what you planned that day. Smoke it when you have the freedom to just hang out and enjoy the high and you’ll quickly find you have a smile on your face for reasons you can’t quite remember.

Can’t find Dr. Walker’s Daze? After all, it is the kind of rare strain you’re more likely to find in some chronnoisseur’s radical head stash than anywhere for sale. But worry not; I have personally taken it upon myself to smoke a joint of it (rolled in a raw, unbleached paper to limit taste-contamination) to get you vicariously loaded. And don’t just take my word for it. In order to bring you a diversity of reactions to this fine herb, a private cannabis cup was held somewhere deep in the redwoods in which a select panel of chronnoisseurs convened to evaluate the effects of Dr. Walker’s Daze and other strains. It was the first joint of the competition, toked on a clean palate. Prepare to get DW Dazed!
The smell: Distinctive haze smell accented with cacao, cinnamon, and vanilla. Spicy dark chocolate with a hint of pepper in the after-scent.
The dry hit: A deep, rich taste highlighted by a fruity sweetness, a certain spiciness, and again that hint of pepper. Leaves a faint menthol tingle on the tongue. The hot boy I smoked it with is convinced he got high off the dry hits.
The flavor: Classic haze flavor, giving way to mango and a taste of tropical fruit in general, underscored with a subtle spiciness.

The cloud: When the hot boy exhaled, I lingered smiling in the smoke cloud so long I had to be reminded to hit the joint. Its smell was complex, but overall called to mind some exotic wood, like cedar.
The high: Uplifting, alert, and euphoric. We were overcome with a feeling of warm coziness that seemed to radiate from within and which manifested as uncontrollable giggles. It was a full-bodied high that got us so blasted we forgot to finish the joint. And when the hot boy put his hoodie on, he put it on upside-down. Not inside-out. Upside-down. With the hood covering his ass. Dude. That’s how high we got. So high even his hoodie couldn’t tell his head from his ass.

When I got Dazed alone with the hot boy, we didn’t play any music or have any other form of artificial stimulation during the smoke-out and for the duration of the high. We just sat there, or lay there, enjoying every atom of existence, smiling, happy, and content.
The grow: A high sativa, Dr. Walker’s Daze reportedly roots easily and grows vigorously. It can be quite frosty and resinous and has a flowering period of 72+ days. One could say that the high yield makes it worth the long flowering time — but, truthfully, it’s the high itself that makes it worth it.

Dr. Walker’s Daze is sure to be a preferred smoke for even the most discriminating pot snob. If you ever have the good fortune of coming across this epic boutique strain, there is no clearer evidence that the heavens are smiling on you. Obviously, you must’ve done something really rad in a past life. Reward yourself by picking some up. The only thing you’ll regret is that it didn’t cross your path sooner.

You just got dazed. Look for Blue Dream and Massachusetts Super Skunk in upcoming reviews...

blackberry kush

HEAD STASH

DR. WALKER'S DAZE

turns rainy days into rainbows...

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You just got BBK-O'd! Look for Blue Dream, Orange Velvet and Purple Diesel in upcoming issues. Got a strain you want to see reviewed in Getting High With Dragonfly? Email me at ganjaprincess@hotmail.com.

Dragonfly de la Luz is a world-traveling ganja critic and self-styled chronnoisseur. When not following Radiohead on tour, she travels to exotic countries with relaxed weed laws and writes about the myriad pot scenes and counter-cultures she encounters, sharing her findings in popular cannabis magazines. Her articles have appeared in Cannabis Culture, West Coast Cannabis, SKUNK, and the Journal for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and she is also the global ganja correspondent for TV's Cannabis Planet. Dragonfly studied English Literature and Women's Studies before pursuing her graduate degree in Feminism and Social Justice. Recently named one of SKUNK magazine's most influential women in weed, Dragonfly is committed to transmitting the culture of stoner intelligentsia to the world.